Getting Started with a New Blog

How about a blog? It’s a place where you can share your information one week at a time, one idea at a time and allow people to come and see the information, get to know you.

It’s a space to build up that know, like and trust factor…

But how are you going to do it?

What do you need?

How can you set yourself up for success? Let me take you on a journey…

What’s a blog?

Let’s start at the beginning.

One definition is “a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.”

And that sounds pretty much dead-on to what a blog is.

Whether it’s your website that hosts the blog pages (like this one), or you ‘borrow’ space on a site that’s dedicated to storing and sharing these stores/posts that’s completely up to you.

Do you need a blog?

That’s a difficult question.

Do you have to have one? Then the answer is no.

However, consider that if you put all your ideas, sharing your experience and knowledge on social media (whichever one you prefer), then it’s:

Easy to get lost in all of the other noise
Not yours, we all know that social media is using someone else’s space and you can get chucked out at anytime

If you’ve got information to share, be it tips and tricks, advice, stories, experience, then a blog is a great place to write and share it.

Of course, it does mean a lot of writing – and everything that goes with it.

It’s time to ask yourself – are you a writer?

There’s no shame in answering no.

Please don’t push yourself into spending time on something that you don’t enjoy.

Remember there are other options available – one of them should fit you.

This needs to be something that you enjoy doing – you’ll be doing it for a long time!

Your place or mine?

If you’ve made the decision that a blog is a good option for you, then you need to think about where you’re going to save it.

It boils down to two locations:

Your website

A blog platform

Of course price is going to play a part in your decision.

Your Own Website

Your own website is going to mean that you’re paying for a website name (michellektraining.co.uk), an online place to host the site (the company that stores those pages and makes them available to the internet).

Those are the two main options that you need, there are others, from SEO apps, stock photos, images reduction, page design.

But on the flip side, it’s yours.

You can choose how it looks, what it says.

A Blog Platform

Yes, it’s going to be a lot cheaper – even free.

Of course, the free version will put limits on your choices, from the web address (mitshk.wordpress.com), to its look and potentially how many articles you can post.

You can take a step up – for a cost – and pay a monthly or yearly fee to have a choice of domain names and colours/templates to use.

The flip side here is that you don’t have the stress or pressure of the tech site.

You can get on with writing and sharing yourself and your genius.